Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

Generally, a java programmer starts programming with a notepad. To compile and run a program, a programmer uses javac and java commands at the command prompt window. Notepad doesn’t help a programmer to track the improper java syntax while programming. This makes programming a bit uncomfortable. Hence, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) are developed to provide best solution to ease the programmer’s task. This tutorial explains Eclipse IDE in the series of topics indexed below:

1. About IDE
   IDE is a smart editor that equips a programmer with features like editing, compiling, deploying, debugging etc.. IDE abstracts the programming complexities and reduces the applications development time hence it enhances the productivity.
   
2. Starting with Eclipse IDE
   This is free and open source, extensible IDE written in Java. This is one of the most popular IDE used among Java community. Eclipse Plug-Ins are available for C/C++,Cobol, PHP, JSP/Servlet, J2EE and many more. 
   
3. Downloading, Installing and Initializing Eclipse
   To use Eclipse in your system, it is required to download its appropriate copy along with java runtime environment.
   
4. Creating a Project
   This section explains the steps involved in developing a project in Eclipse IDE.